The Sindh government announced on Thursday that the 2026 academic year in the province will begin on April 1 and will be celebrated under the theme “Teaching for Trees” to promote environmental awareness among students.
The decision was taken during a steering committee meeting of the Education Department held under the chairmanship of Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah at committee room no. 1, Old Sindh Assembly Building.
The meeting approved key decisions on the start of the new academic year, the academic calendar, exams, holidays, school schedules and other important educational matters.
Minister of Universities and Colleges Ismail Rahu participated as a special participant in the meeting.
The steering committee decided that exams up to grade 8 will be held in March as usual, including the month of Ramadan. The exams for grades 9 and 10 will be held from March 31 to April 15, 2026, while the exams for grades 11 and 12 will be held from April 15 to 30, 2026.
The committee also approved that the interim results be announced on June 1.
It was further decided that summer vacations in the new academic year will be observed during June and July, while winter vacations will be held in the last ten days of December.
As chairman of the steering committee, the Education Minister directed that children should be encouraged to plant trees within schools or designated areas and take responsibility for their care, to make schools more child-friendly and environmentally sustainable.
Expressing satisfaction with the implementation of the decisions taken in the previous academic year, the minister highlighted the need to further strengthen the effective implementation of the academic calendar.
He stated that 2025 is considered the year of steam education in Sindh, which yielded positive results. He added that if approximately ten million students in Sindh planted one tree each, ten million new trees could be grown across the province.
In the face of climate change, a subcommittee of the Steering Committee will be formed to consult all interested parties and present recommendations on possible adjustments to the vacation schedule, which may be considered for the 2027 academic year.
The meeting directed the authorities to ensure timely conduct of the board exams and avoid any delay in announcing the results. All educational boards have been directed to implement Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) system to improve transparency and exam results.
Universities Minister Ismail Rahu also directed board chairmen to increase the use of technology in examination processes to minimize human involvement and improve the efficiency of results.
The meeting also decided to include sports and other co-curricular activities in the annual academic calendar to promote creativity and all-round development of students.
